Obama Addresses the Nation on Economic Crisis

One day after the Congressional Budget Office projected the federal deficit for 2009 to be $1.2 trillion, President-elect Obama addressed the nation and introduced his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

Obama boldly stated that “it is time to set a new course for the economy and that change must begin now.” That change, he indicated, must begin in Washington.

The President-elect noted a paradox in that millions of Americans are looking for work in a time when there is so much work to be done. His recovery plan aims to create three million new jobs, mainly in the private sector, over the next three years in order to address rising unemployment and failing infrastructure problems facing the nation.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will invest in priorities like energy, education, healthcare and new infrastructure. It is time to “spark the creation of a clean energy economy,” noted Obama. This will be accomplished by:

• Doubling the production of renewable energy over three years.
• Increasing energy efficiency of two million homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on energy bills.
• Modernizing 75 percent of federal buildings to increase their energy efficiency.
• Putting Americans to work by developing new energy technologies, like wind power, solar energy and fuel efficient cars and buildings.
• Updating the way Americans get electricity by building a smart grid, in turn delivering clean alternative energy to American homes, protecting power sources and saving money for consumers.

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